Nine

She turned back to the townspeople as the servants rushed off outside. She cleared her throat before she began speaking again. "And now, it's time to celebrate. You've all brought foods which the servants had already set up. They're currently putting the last few touches on everything." Once finished, the people's faces seemed to light up. A celebration in Ardon wasn't uncommon, but everyone still loved them, nonetheless.

Loud music was playing as everyone began leaving the greenhouse. There were 11 tables, all piled high with foods that the townspeople had brought. Another two tables were filled with foods the royal chefs had cooked. Some people went to grab food while others began dancing. Children were running around and laughing. Celestria had gone out to change nearby into a beautiful green tunic with gold trimmings. It was her nicest clothing piece, and she never got to really wear it. The sleeves were fitted, and the skirt flared out to twirl as she danced. 

She danced with many people, trading off partners between dances. Everyone was clapping to the timing of the music, smiles on their faces. 

A hand tapped on the commander's shoulder before covering her eyes. 

"Guess who?" the voice said. Celestria spun around to see Anderson. He was dressed in a beige tunic that reached just below his knees along with black breeches. He let out a hand towards her as a new song started. "Care to dance, Commander?" 

She nodded, taking his hand then leading him back towards the crowd. The two danced together as she laughed with joy. Celestria always enjoyed being able to dance during the festivals. It wasn't formal, and she didn't have to keep herself looking stoic and stiff. 

Once the dance ended, she bowed to him and he bowed back as he smiled. And as he went to find another partner, Celestria noticed the king and Sigourney approaching the crowd. Before she could leave to prevent herself from getting mad, Samuel had come up to her. 

His hair was messy and he carried a lute with pictures carved into the sides. He was smiling, which wasn't a thing Celestria often saw. "Miss Commander. They're ready for you to sing a song."

She wanted to groan. She completely forgot that she promised to sing a song, Song of Roland. It was one song she really loved and she would always sing a song since she wanted to have as much fun as possible. Celestria stole a glance from Sigourney and noticed her looking her way. She looked back at Samuel before tentatively agreeing. 

He smiled more as he gestured for her to get over to the other servants playing instruments. One was playing drums while another played the harp and another played a flute. There were two other instruments she couldn't recognize at first before realizing it was a vielle and a shawm.

They began playing their instruments and Celestria began singing the song. She didn't have an awful voice; it was raspy and she could hit all the notes needed, but she didn't care about that. She just loved watching the people dancing and clapping along. 

When she finished the song, she bowed before going back into the crowd. Another towns person went up to the band, and he began singing another song. It was truly mesmerizing. His voice was smooth, sweet, and strong; it carried across the entire courtyard. She tried to think of what song it was he was singing. When she finally got it, she rolled her eyes at herself for not recognizing it.

"Greensleeves was my heart of gold,

And who but my lady greensleeves.

Your vows, you've broken, like my heart, 

Oh, why did you so enraptured me?"

Greensleeves, a pretty popular folk song in their kingdom. She didn't know where the song really originated from, but it was one song that was commonly sung at celebrations.

A few other townspeople had sung along, a couple more joining until more than half the crowd was singing along. The commander smiled. They should've all looked ridiculous as they swayed back and forth and belted the lyrics, but to her it was beautiful. She loved the rawness of it all. Everyone was so real and passionate.

She was appreciating the beauty of the whole scene, when someone tapped her shoulder for the second time today. She turned around, expecting to see Anderson again, but was surprised to see Sigourney. Celestria felt all her previous rage quickly return. She tried shoving it down, not wanting to ruin her own good mood. 

"Yes, your majesty?" she forced herself to say, trying to be careful with her tone of voice. She couldn't afford to get angry again. She definitely couldn't afford to make the woman mad at her. Not while she still had the king wrapped around her finger.

The queen seemed to hesitate, as if she didn't know what she wanted to say. This irritated Celestria. Why come over if she didn't even know what she wanted?

"Commander," she started before shaking her head, negating herself. "Celestria, I get that you were mad earlier. And I sincerely apologise for having a soldier follow you. But despite that, you didn't have to be rude to your king and I. I meant no harm when I made him follow you, and the king had nothing to do with it."

The other was flabbergasted. Who was she to tell her what she could and couldn't do? Before she had the chance to blow up, she clenched her fist at her side, nails digging into her palm. She took a deep breath as she locked eyes with the queen. 

She put on a tight smile. "I see. Now, if that was all, I will be going. I have other matters to tend to." Sigourneys' confusion could be seen on her face. She hadn't meant to upset her, but it appeared everything she said irritated the woman. She reached out and grabbed Celestrias' wrist before she could walk away.

"Wait." The commanders' eyes pierced daggers through the queen. She hated being unwittingly touched. Sigourney quickly released her hold. "I'm sorry, I just…" She let out a sigh of frustration. "I just wanted to tell you that there are better ways to confront someone who has angered you. You don't always need to face them head on with your anger." The commanders' face went blank.

"Let me guess," her words were ice cold, "your way would also happen to be the better way?" Sigourney flinched back as she realized the mistake she had just made. "I'll be on my way now, your majesty." 

The commander turned on her heels and marched out. The queen saw the woman stop and take a flask from a nearby table. Celestria didn't seem like the drinking type, so her words must've really aggravated her. Sigourney let out a sigh. She really wanted to be on good terms with the woman. She was beautiful and strong, and there was something about her that made her different from the others. The queen closed her eyes for a moment. Even when she was a child, she'd had troubles making friends. They thought she was too weird. And those who did want to be her friends only wanted it because she was the kings' daughter. 

Someone broke into laughter near the woman and snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked around and realized that now wasn't the time to be getting lost in the past. Sigourney made a mental note to go apologize to Celestria later, but for now she'd push those thoughts aside and enjoy the festival. 

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Celestria reached her chambers and slammed the door shut. The queen had managed to ruin the perfectly good time she was having. She sat in the middle of her bed with a huff and drank. 

But before she could even take a second swing, there was a knock on the door.